Not bothering to look back at us, Noland walked off towards her, leaving me with Leon.
‘That man will never change,’ he sighed, sitting next to me. ‘This is home, Hope, just for a while.’
He almost looked apologetic when I glanced at him.
‘You’ve got to let me go, I’m going to be a witness at Sandor’s trial.’
‘I know you are, but I want them to listen to some of my terms first. You kidnapped me, now I’m returning the favour. Artie underestimated me. The funny thing is, we’re all on the same side. We all want to live in harmony with the Perfects. Unfortunately, Artie doesn’t do enough to try and make it happen.’ Leon stood and held out his hand to help me up.
I ignored it and stood myself. It wasn’t like I could stretch out my casted arm anyway.
‘You think killing them is going to make them want to live side by side with you?’ I couldn’t help the tone I used. Some people were so…
‘Leon, I need to talk to you,’ Noland interrupted as he rushed back over. Leon nodded and turned. He gestured for the fly man that stood nearby.
‘Watch her for a minute,’ he ordered.
The man nodded and came to stand next to me.
‘Hope, in answer to your question, we only did it to get their attention. We never actually meant to kill anyone. Sandor promised…’ His words were cut short when Noland grabbed his arm and pulled him away. They stood off to one side of the fire. Noland was calm and collected, while Leon was gesticulating madly.
‘He’s a good leader,’ said the fly man.
‘He’s the leader of the whole camp?’ I watched his back. Sunlight glistened against his thin gossamer wings. Rainbows reflected from them, making it hard for me to look away.
‘Yes, of course. He’s been our leader since we became rebels…what, ten years ago now?’
Wow, Leon was not what I expected at all. This was not the same man we had captured and tried to interrogate.
‘How did he become leader?’ I asked.
‘He declared that we didn’t deserve to be treated so unfairly. We agreed and followed him out of Lower Side.’ He shrugged.
‘And Noland? I heard he killed Artie’s parents.’ I looked over at the pair as they spoke.
‘It was an accident, he didn’t mean to.’
‘How can you not mean to?’ Glancing back at the fly-breed, I stared as his wings flicked a few times.
‘He was on a mission for Artie. He was one his best warriors until then. Artie had asked him to investigate a rebel bomb. Noland wasn’t able to disconnect it in time and it went off. Artie’s parents were in the building. Noland managed to get some people out first, but not them.’
Artie blamed Noland for the bomb going off? That didn’t exactly seem fair considering Noland had tried to save them all. I looked at Noland just his gaze clashed with mine. That half grin was thrown at me before he turned back to Leon.
‘Hardly seems fair,’ I muttered.
I didn’t want to be dis-loyal to Artie but I struggled to not resent him. Especially regarding the secrets he kept about my mother.
‘Hope,’ Leon called before my companion could respond, ‘I want to show you where you’ll sleep. Follow me.’
Chapter Nineteen
Days went by as I slowly got used to how they lived in the wilderness. The rebels were extremely friendly. It was an unusual feeling. I was greeted by everyone when Noland or Leon walked me through the camp. They hadn’t tied me up, but they had put a guard outside my tent.
‘I need to bathe,’ I said quietly to Leon when he came to get me on the third evening for dinner. He sighed and looked around us. Lots of people gathered in the centre of the village.
‘Okay, after dinner, Noland will take you.’ He gestured for me to sit on a wooden bench.
Gulping, I swallowed hard. I had tried to avoid being around Noland. For some reason, I had a feeling that he was the only one who might be able to tell what I was.
‘Here.’ Noland’s deep voice had me looking up into amused grey eyes.
He had been standing right beside us. Grinning, he held out a bowl of soup and a chunk of bread. I was amazed by how much food the rebels had. Leon had explained that they had managed to cultivate the land by learning from a handful of books they had stolen from Lower Side. They lived on the vegetables and flour they grew themselves.
Taking the food, I smiled my thanks. Going to the bathing cave with Noland was risky. However, I needed to be clean, so I ignored the trembling in my hands.
‘Hope, we need to talk,’ Leon said.
He had taken the other bowl that Noland had offered and stared straight ahead. The sun had got low and no longer shone into the camp.
‘Are you letting me go?’ I looked at him, but he wouldn’t make eye contact.
He shook his head as he chewed on a piece of bread. The soup was hot. It was vegetable. I hadn’t seen where they grew the vegetables and was curious. We couldn’t grow anything on Lower Side and the wilderness didn’t exactly look like it could grow any crops either.
I had seen the pictures in books of flourishing fields and gorgeous fruit trees. The Perfects must have a secret place to grow too. I had been told that they had an abundance of fresh food in Upper Side.
‘I’m sorry, no. I’ve spoken to my team and we’ve decided to send a ransom note to the government.’
My jaw dropped open. Luckily, I had swallowed my mouthful. The winged kids ran around us for a moment, their laughter sinking into me.
‘I thought you said you were trying to make peace?’
I couldn’t imagine that the government would be bothered about paying a ransom for me. I wasn’t that important to them.
‘Peace making is a strategy. I know you’ve worked for Artie for a while, so you know the deal. We can’t go quietly to the Perfects and expect them to just accept us and treat us fairly. They’re the ones who created Lower Side and the divide between us in the first place. A long time ago, there was no such thing. We all lived together without judgement…or at least, not quite so much. We need to play this game.’ Leon glanced at me with a hardness in his eyes. Not hardness of uncaring, but determination to do it right.
‘So, where do I come in?’ I asked.
‘I want to ransom you for a jury seat on Sandor’s trial.’ He handed his empty bowl to a woman.
She smiled at me as she took my bowl. I tried to smile back but my arm started to vibrate. Clearing my throat, I concentrated on keeping my wings in my back and my good arm in my shoulder. No one had stared at me here. My lack of arm was quite normal to them.
‘Are you okay?’ Noland whispered from beside me. He had sat down as I concentrated on my wings. I nodded.
‘Who will be the extra person on the jury?’ I already knew the answer.
‘Me, of course,’ Leon said as he stood and brushed crumbs from his trousers, ‘Noland, please could you take Hope to the bathing room? No one else must be in there. Sorry, Hope, that’s as much privacy as I can give you. Noland will not look at you.’ He glared at his friend as he said the last sentence.
Great, I was going to have to clean myself with the most gorgeous looking man in the entire village standing nearby. I stood at the same time my hunky guard did and followed him through the tents. People were beginning to wind down for the day. Some sat around their fires, eating. Others played instruments while their friends and family laid on the ground, looking up at the appearing stars.
‘Wait!’ a female voice called from behind. I turned. Leon’s sister rushed after us. She had a bundle of cloth in her hands. ‘Here is a towel to dry yourself and some clean clothes. I’m sorry I can’t come with you. Leon doesn’t trust that I’d be able to keep you here.’
She was very sweet as she said goodbye and walked away. I looked at the ground as I followed Noland to the gap in the mountain walls. He ducked through, but before I could turn to run off, his hand came through the gap, grabbed my cast and pulled me inside.
Candles
littered everywhere. They were in the groves of the rocky walls. They were on the floor and in the ceiling. Their flames reflected dancing patterns on the water below. Inside, there was a little area where people obviously got changed. In the centre of the cave, there was big pool of steaming water. It was clean and looked more inviting than anything I had ever seen.
‘It’s a natural hot spring. Go ahead.’ Noland gestured.
His deep voice was near my ear. The warmth of his breath made me jump away from him. An image of my old friend Nicole came into my mind.
‘Does Nicole know that you’re a rebel?’ I stepped away from him, raising my eyebrows.
He took the bundle from me, unwrapped it and laid the towel on the side of the pool. He shot me a grin and turned to face the wall. Spinning away from him, I tugged my clothes off as quickly as I could. It was hard with my arm in the cast, but I wasn’t missing this opportunity. The water looked gorgeous, and at that point, I wouldn’t have cared if Noland saw me naked. Hurrying into the pool, I ducked down so my body was covered by the warm liquid. Screwing up my face, I sighed when I had to hold my arm above my head so the cast didn’t get wet.
‘Wow, this is so nice,’ I said, letting the air rush out of my lungs.
A splash made me turn around. I gulped, my mouth hanging open. Noland was wading into the pool…completely naked. His bare chest was ridged and glistening in the candle-light. His hips were sharp, toned and led to a place where I did not need to look. Moving away from him, I swum over to the furthest part of the pool.
‘I’m not sure this is what Leon meant,’ I stuttered, turning when I thought he would be safely under water.
He was inches away from me. The warmth of the water started to travel up every part of my body as his grey eyes, shadowed in the candlelight, tried to make contact with mine.
‘Stop it!’ I pushed water at him.
It dripped down his face, drops resting on his stubble. He laughed, the sound a deep vibration that travelled up my spine. I couldn’t help but shiver. He stopped moving towards me and bowed his head.
‘Sorry, it’s a habit. How long do you have to have the cast on for?’
He stayed where he was. It was far away enough for me to not be able to see him in the dark water. I wasn’t ashamed of my body or worried about seeing his, but images of Jason kept coming into my brain. Swallowing, I ducked underwater, not caring about the cast.
When I came back up, he was slightly nearer.
‘Not long, it was only a minor break. I think you’re clean enough now,’ I whispered.
He floated towards me slowly. There was nothing I could do. Reaching forward, he pushed his fingers into my hair and cupped the back of my head. I couldn’t do a thing as his grey eyes and soft lips came towards me.
*
Avoidables 1-9 is here!
Copyright
Copyright © 2014 by Rachel Medhurst
All rights reserved. This book or any portion thereof may not be reproduced or used in any manner whatsoever without the express written permission of the publisher except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, places, events and incidents are either the products of the author’s imagination or used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental.
Author
Rachel Medhurst wants to bring hope, excitement and feeling through her work. An avid reader herself, she loves to get lost in a book. Writing is Rachel's passion. To keep up to date on new releases please check out her website.
www.rachelmedhurst.com
Avoidables Page 10
